Belt buckle



Oct. 14, 1952 M. MEDLlN BELT BUCKLE Filed May 18, 1950 INVENTOR. MILTON MEDL/N ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 14, 1952 r I 1. iiL'r BUCKLE i. Mimil fl i st fYe kaN- A piinbnfnajia1956;senaimlie2,s5s[, f ---1 Claim. weir-in This invention relates, generally to belt buckles and more particularly to a belt buckle designed to support a nether garment from the waist of the wearer..

7 It is one. of the general objects or my. invention 1 to provide a buckle having new and improved means whereby the front portion ofthe trouser is held elevated against sagging with reference to the overlying belt.

A'further general object of the inventionis the provision of' a new and improved belt engaging tongue for a trouser supporting belt buckle.

Another general object of my invention is the provision or a simple highly efllcient and inexpensive belt buckle.

For the attainment 'of these objects and such other objects as may hereinafter appear or be pointed out I have illustrated one embodiment of my invention in the drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the improved buckle.

Figure 2 is a perspective view thereof.

Figure 3 is a horizontal section taken centrally longitudinally through the front portion of a belt and the underlying trouser portions.

Upon reference to Fig. 2 it will be observed that the belt buckle shown there comprises a U-shaped frame It! having a transverse pin or cross bar II which connects the free ends of the frame legs to complete a closed loop through which one end Bl of thebelt strap is received for adjustment of its effective length. This type of buckle is generally provided with a tongue i3 engaged at one of its ends about the cross bar I I for free swinging or swivelling thereabout to engage the distal and free end of the tongue through any one of the spaced apart openings generally provided centrally longitudinally of the belt. The other end B2 of the belt (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2) has its central portion cut away inwardly from its extreme free edges as shown at B3 to provide two loops B4 and B5 which are engaged about the outer portions of the cross bar H to secure that end of the belt thereto. The cut away central portion of the belt end leaves an open space within which the pivoted end of the tongue I3 is secured and held centered between the loops B4 and B5 on the belt.

The feature of invention revolves about the construction of the tongue which I will now proceed to describe in detail. Upon reference to the drawings it will be observed that tongue I3 is shown as an integral part of a unit formed ."i'z f a from .a bar or member of extended length. This member .is, bent back "upon itself along its length at spaced apart points to pro- .vide three substantially-parallel sections which are in overlapping relation. one of the outer of these sections forms tongue i3. The other of the outer sections forms a' garment engaging hook l6. These two outer sections l3 and i6 are connected by interrnedlatez'section l8.

. 'Ijhefollowing. observations" willv be made as .to these sections, The intermediate-section. I8 .is formed from the rod -like member by (a bend which takes the form o f ;a loop-20. This loo'pIzo engages centrally abouttheqross'bar 'l I between loops B4 and B5 which,se c ure. the belt to the buckle and supports the .unit for swivelling; the

tongue' [3 which extends integrally from one end of the loop 20, is of a length substantially reater th'an'ithat of. the, intermediate member l8 and extends a substantialdistancetherebeyond to the left in the showing of Figs. 2 and 3; and the intermediate section l8 and the tongue l3 are shown in close adjacency. The outermost section [6 which forms the garment engaging hook is formed by giving the rod-like member a second bend 2| at a point along its length spaced from the point wherein the loop 20 is formed. The loop 20 and bend 2| thus define the length of the intermediate section I8. It will be observed further that the garment engaging hook or section I6 is of greater length thanithe intermediate section [8 and extends a substantial distance to the right beyond loop 20 and, in the preferred arrangement shown in Figs. 2 and 3, is spaced from the loop 20.

Fig. 3 of the drawings is a horizontal section through the top portion of the fly of the trousers and the portion of the belt (including the buckle) which normally overlies this portion of the trousers. In this figure the garment portions TI and T2 overlap vertically centrally of the trouser front and define what is known as a fly. The integrated buckle tongue I3 and garment engaging hook IB are so dimensioned and related that when a belt is engaged through the trouser belt receiving loops and closed at the front by the belt buckle, the garment engaging hook portion It will be enterable between the two overlying fabric sections TI and T2 of the fly.

The fly of a pair of trousers is generally closed at or adjacent the top by interengaging elements on the two overlying fly portions TI and T2. These cooperating elements may comprise button T3 secured to the inner of the two overlying fly portions by thread T4 and a buttonhole (not sufiicient distance so that it will not have a gripping engagement with the inner fly portion inter.

posed therebetween.

Where preferred the space between thehook l6 and the loop 20 may be decreased sufliciently so that the interposed inner fly portion T! will be gripped therebetween. Thiaarrangementimay be found more desirable for example where-the level of the button is such that its threads normally will not rest on hook I6.

The attachment or the-belt bucklefto theb'elt strap by means otthe' loop ZU-and'the engagement' oithe finger- Iii-through one or the openings in thebelt' strap to close the beltaboutthe waist may be moreorless conventional. "However, the swivelling movement of the tongue l3 to engage its end through the belt strap will present the finger parallel with th'e' trouser front and approximately-in'theplane 'betweenthe two overlapping sectionsoft'he trouser fiyz Witlrthe parts in thispositio'n anangularshift of the belt around the body; will cause the tongue Hi to enter between thefltwo 'flyportions to reach the position shown in 3;

departing frompth'e' scope of theinvention or 4 sacrificing the advantages derived from its use.

Having thus described and illustrated my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

A tongue member having a loop for attaching it to a buckle frame of a waist engaging garment supporting belt to swivel the member on the buckle frame to engage and disengage the member, from the belt; said tongue member being ,formed from a-frod-like'length of material by a bending operation into three portions aligned in overlapping relation, one of the outer of the aligned portions forming the tongue of the buckle andthe other outer portion forming a garment attaching; finger, the third and intermediate porthe'frame. where'bywhen the member'is swivelledly mounted on the frame by means of the loop, the engagement of the free end of the tongue with an opening. in a belt strap will automatically position'the finger in the plane between the overlapping portions of the fly ofthe nether garment so 'that'the finger can be interposed between these fly portionsv for supportingthe garment against sagging with reference to the belt.

1 MILTON MEDIQIN;

REFERENCES CITED The: following references are of record! in the me of this patent:

, FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date" Germany Nov: 24, 1936 Number 

